Hitler's Scientists: Science, War, and the Devil's Pact

Don't get distracted by the title! When I noticed it while browsing in the book store in an airport, I was at first worried that this would another one of these overly opinionated books, more interested in imposing a view on me the poor reader than in good writing, and in letting me make up my own mind. I started reading in the plane, and was pleased to find that the author manages to paint a captivating portrait of a group of German scientists who were faced with a Faustian choice; Fritz Haber (poison gas), Werner von Braun (rockets), Werner Heisenberg (atomic bomb), Otto Hahn (fission), Max von Laue (nuclear physics) to mention only a few. For the most part, the book reads like a novel, and with his superb writing, the author Cornwell brings the characters to life. Many of the German scientists in the 1930ties were Jewish, or partly Jewish, and they were dismissed by Hitler in 1933, or the years up to the war. Many of them emigrated, and others ended up in concentration camps. Some ( Albert Einstein, John von Neumann, Hans Bethe, and more) went to the USA, and became the core of the team, the Manhattan Project who built the first atomic bomb, the one used by the US government against Japan in 1945. The bigger picture in Cornwell's book is the role of ethics in science. By weaving together the individuals, their thoughts, their ambitions, and their flawed judgments, Cornwell is not excusing anyone, but rather, he is helping us understand that we all must take responsibility for our actions. We can perhaps understand how present day scientists, and in fact all of us are faced with Faustian choices of our own. I liked this one of Cornwell's books a lot better than his perhaps better known one, `Hitler's Pope'. It had me hooked from the start, and I couldn't put it down. Cornwell is not just relying on old historical sources. Since Michael Frayn's play `Copenhagen' a few years ago about the meeting in Copenhagen in the fall of 1941 between Werner Heisenberg and Niels Bohr, new documents have been made available from Bohr's archives which help us understand Heisenberg's motives better. Cornwell displays a remarkable judgment in making use of them My reading of Heisenberg: If you accept a dinner invitation with the Devil, it is best to eat with a tea spoon. While Heisenberg, a humanist at heart may have understood this, at least initially, he soon found himself, perhaps as a result of blind ambition, eating at the trough with both hands deep into the stew, all the way up to his elbows. It is perhaps ironic that the theme of the Faustian choice has a prominent place in German literature, from the medieval "Faustus" tale to Goethe, Weber's Freischuetz, to Martin Luther's Protestantism, and to Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus (Mann's moral despair over his country's complacent embrace of Nazism). In fact the theme of Cornwell's novel is universal, and it is as timely now as it was 60 years ago, and even 300 years ago. R

John Cornwell, author of "Hitler's Pope" has made another major contribution to our understanding of the Hitler era in this book. As is to be expected, there are chapters on such topics as medicine, physics, eugenics, jets and other "wonder weapons," and medical experimentation, all thorough and based on solid research. In addition, there are several topics discussed which are more novel and extremely valuable. Cornwell has an early chapter on "Germany the Science Mecca" which focuses upon the absolute dominance of German science prior to the war. This is coupled with an examination of "Hitler the Scientist" which is crucial for understanding why Hitler did not really pick up on major scientific developments which could have altered the course of the war--he just didn't get it when it can came to science. The author also has an extended discussion on German atomic bomb development, which incorporates the latest material released by the Neils Bohr foundation relating to the famous Bohr-Heisenberg 1941 meeting in occupied Copenhagen, which is the subject of Michael Frayn's recent play. Cornwell comes out on the side of those who argue that Heisenberg did not delay the development of a German bomb intentionally, for forces beyond his control doomed the German bomb from being developed in time. He also includes a discusson of the British "Farm Hall" tapes made of captured prominent German scientists after the war to cast further light on this issue. All-in-all, an extremely valuable volume.

Some of the reviews of this book fail to recognise one of it's fundamental messages: the total failure of an ideological and dogmatic approach to science within Nazi Germany. Watch the history or discovery channel on any given week and there is a fair chance you will watch an account of the wonder weapons that Germany nearly built. This book helps shatter the myth that Germany was more advanced. It's coverage is broad, as such, if you want an exhausitve account of V2 production, Luftwaffe high altitude experimentation on concentration camp inmates or the merits of the tiger tank against the Sherman M4 you will find another book more helpful. This book does give: - an account of early 20th Century Science, as background and context. Racial theory, the study of skull shapes and sterilization of the "inferior" were not confined to Germany. - the results of the exclusion/persecution of Jewish scholars and the benefit to the US and the allies. - the evil of Nazi Science (slave labour, murder). - the moral dilemas faced by scientists. - the economic waste of Nazi Weapons programs e.g. V1 and V2. Although techically superb, the costs outwayed the benefits. - conflicting groups failing to cooperate (SS, Luftwaffe, Army and Navy competing with similar projects.) - following "stupid" concepts on the whim of a leader. To be fair, the last to failings were/are shared by many countries, but not to the same extreme. The impact of Nazi science on the remainder of the 20th century is also assessed. For example, the US space program and the willingness of the Allies to hire Nazi Scientists. The book places the actual (and very real achievements) of Nazi science in the context of evil and ineffective use. Good book, very broad coverage. Raises numerous issues - a great start for further thought and study. Also, the book helps to put many of the "what if ...." books and TV shows in their true context (entertaining speculation).

I was prepared to be somewhat bored by this lengthy compendium on the Nazi scientists, but found myself fascinated. John Cornwell has presented here two very important moral problems for a practicing scientist in just about any discipline, namely who owns the results of the scientific enterprise and to what uses should scientific discoveries be employed? Scientists still to a large degree work at the direction and with the financial support of the state or industry, or both. We hope that at least most of these activities are in the interests of society, but sometimes they are not, and in many cases we do not always know for sure. In Nazi Germany most scientists did not ask questions about the uses of scientific work at all, or they supported the activities of the government. The few that did raise questions were usually those oppressed by the regime (mostly Jews and dissidents). Even so there were clear examples of resistance. Albert Einstein had long recognized the dangers in militarism and had renounced German citizenship before Hitler rose to power. Heinrich Wieland stayed in Germany, helped Jewish scientists, and refused to use the Hitler salute. Max Born and Max von Laue generally worked against the Nazis. However these were more than matched by the complacent collaborators like Heisenberg, von Braun, Lorenz, von Weizäcker and others, as well as by the enthusiastic supporter of Nazism, including some Nobel Laureates like Lenard. Some scientists then fell back on the "scientific discovery is neutral and we are not to blame for uses to which others put it." Some modern scientists still believe this today. However, the neutrality of science concept is unfortunately not easily defended in the light of such outrages as the prison camp experimentation of a Mengele. While I in principal favor free access to scientific knowledge, it is a responsibility of scientists, I think, to point out dangers and to oppose unethical methodology and uses of scientific research. There are grave dangers in allowing the system to run free with a technology that could destroy many innocent lives (weapons of mass destruction) or might even render the planet unlivable (as we seem to be slowly doing even without such weapons!) This book is a wake up call and I think Cornwell can be forgiven if he is a bit "preachy" on the subject. Researchers need to understand the issues so that they are not lured into the same Faustian bargain made by most German scientists during the Hitler era. Scientists cannot remain aloof and pretend that nothing they do has any effect on the lives of people living on this planet. To do so would show them up as naive elitists who care for nothing but their own prestige. I thank whatever powers be that a few in Germany had the courage to speak up, but they were, alas, too few! Let us hope that future historians will not be able to say that about us!

When I first bought this, I can not say I had high expectations. Some of the reviewers comments on the book made it sound a bit preachy - and maybe a bit dry. Instead, I discovered a well written historical treatise on the moral and academic climate leading to Hitler's rise to power - and the scientific environment in the German regime during the war with some new insights into the debate between Heisenberg and Bohr regarding the possibility of a Nazi atomic bomb. It is a revealing account of the treatment of Jewish academics before the war. Despite the unquestionable contribution of Jewish scientists to Germany's technological success, those in power altered their own history trying bury any evidence of Jewish talent. Even Einstein's equation E=mc^2 was claimed to have been stolen from a pro-Nazi scientist. The burning of books by Freud, Einstein and others in 1933 provides important insights into how a state can manipulate the views of their people. When Freud asked to emigrate, he was forced to sign a document that he had not been mistreated - to which Freud added "I can most highly recommend the Gestapo to everyone." - a curious remark considering that his daughter Anna had just been interrogated for a full day by the Gestapo. I am a scientist, so maybe I appreciated the scientific discussions in this book more than most. Still, I think this is a book worth the read. I may not be Jewish, but I think it is important to see how a state can twist history and redirect the views of both acadmics and its population. Cornwell does a good job providing insights into the rise of Nazi science in the decades before the war - and the attempts of German scientists to rationalize their implicit or explicit support for the Nazi regime. This is a story of Germany in the first half of the 20th century but it provides important insights into the role that science plays in our society, and the responsibilities that scientists share in the use of their science. It is hard to believe that all of this was all going on just 60 years ago (an historical blink of the eye). It makes you wonder whether it can happen again.